Ann Richards (former Gov of Texas) dies at 73

Staff: Mentor

Ann W. Richards, the silver-haired Texas activist who galvanized the 1988 Democratic National Convention with her tart keynote speech and was the state’s 45th governor until upset in 1994 by an underestimated challenger named George W. Bush, died Wednesday at her home in Austin. She was 73.

Ms. Richard died, surrounded by her four children, of complications from the esophageal cancer, the Associated Press reported.

Ms. Richards was the most recent and one of the most effective in a long-line of Lone Star State progressives who vied for control of Texas in the days when it was largely a one-party Democratic enclave, a champion of civil rights, gay rights and feminism. Her defeat by the future president was one of the chief markers of the end of generations of Democratic dominance in Texas.

Actually, I couldn't find the picture I was looking for. Some years back she was on a magazine cover -- I think it may have been Texas Monthly. The caption was "White Hot Mama" and there was a picture of Ann wearing a white leather motorcycle outfit. She looked terrific, and it was an absolutely stunning picture. That's how I always think of her.